Pictured from left: Tom Ivar Horvei, COO, Ola Gudmundsen CEO, Marianne Holst, EVP of Regulatory and Laila Agerholm Executive Vice President QA & Compliance.
“It has been a long and exciting journey. Right from the start, we thought Scandinavian and established offices in Norway, Sweden and Denmark early on. Today, when there are so many more of us, the big difference is that the development of the company is much faster,” says Ola Gudmundsen, founder and CEO of LINK Medical from the head office in Oslo.
The most recent office was opened last year in Finland, in Vantaa outside Helsinki, adding to the other offices that had already existed for some time: Oslo, Stockholm, Uppsala, Malmö and Copenhagen, but is now also in place in London and Berlin as a direct request from Nordic customers who want to be able to test their products in large markets.
“Our services are slightly different in different countries. But we work hard to be the same company regardless of country. It takes a while to create the best structure. The focus has always been on being a solid and safe company. This means that we spend a lot of time and effort not only on profitability, but also on creating a workplace where people thrive and where all employees have opportunities for individual development,” says Ola Gudmundsen.
LINK Medical has worked hard on its leadership culture and values. This is important, says Ola, and the company’s core values span all countries. This includes employees being clear and talking directly to each other, and always having a solution-oriented approach. Then it is important to be able to measure success. Internally, to monitor the well-being of all employees through the Great Place To Work methodology, and then continuous customer surveys to check customer satisfaction.
“We always have to listen to and understand our customers’ problems and that in itself is a combination of knowledge and experience. We also have regulations that change over time, so it is important to keep up and have the right skills for the new. Finding talent is an ongoing process,” says Ola Gudmundsen.
In a changing world, new business areas are constantly evolving, including in the CRO industry. Most recently, LINK Medical, a full-service CRO for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, has invested even more in statistics and advanced data management. This is possible in close cooperation with the supplier Viedoc Technologies, as well as LINK Medical’s data management partner in India under the guidance of the company’s own data managers and statistics experts. It is a global world in which the company operates.
“My vision has been to always keep our promises. To always be honest and credible. But then, I think an important part of successful expansion is to build on what you have and to put your money where your mouth is. It is always the long-term thinking that must dominate and you must have a certain amount of patience, as a strong and good CRO is not built in one day. “, concludes Ola Gudmundsen.
The industry is growing and SwedenBIO wants to draw attention to it. This week we publish three interviews with members who are expanding in different ways. This is part one of three on the theme ‘industry growing pains’.
